As any writer or editor will tell you, critiquing someone else's work is much easier than deconstructing your own, because outside eyes bring a fresh perspective. To approach your own work critically, you need to simulate this "outsider" perspective by viewing it in a form other than the one you wrote it in.

If you typed it, print it out. Give it a quick read-through, then wield your red pen and start slashing.

There are some other great tips as well, but I'd also add two more.

1. Always read your piece from the bottom up. This forces you to read the paragraphs independently. The biggest problem with editing your own work is reading what you actually wrote instead of what you thought you wrote.

2. Along with checking adjectives and adverbs as Lifehacker suggests, I'd add check pronouns. Confusing pronoun use can really kill the meaning of a sentence.

Called Workflows, it's a set of triggers, actions, inputs, and outputs that can be dragged into place and connected on a canvas, letting users create simple multi-step programs in an easy-to-use visual language.

On PodcastingTrey HeathWed, 05 Dec 2012 03:29:49 +0000http://www.podcatalyst.com50062ec184ae8e8883dfffa3:50062ec284ae8e8883dfffb8:50bebf7ee4b0e692146c4aadOne thing I absolutely enjoy more than any other project is PodCatalyst, a bi-monthly podcast I do that covers economic development.

It's a pretty niche podcast covering some heavy topics, but I have a blast.

If you need an outlet and writing is just too time consuming, I highly recommend it.

]]>Productivity InterventionTrey HeathMon, 03 Dec 2012 16:00:00 +0000http://treyheath.com/blog/2012/12/3/productivity-intervention50062ec184ae8e8883dfffa3:50062ec284ae8e8883dfffb8:50bbf758e4b040f434a986a9I have long known that I have a problem.

I am, and have been for many years, a productivity addict. I read workflow books, listen to productivity podcasts and constantly think about how to change up my system.

Where my habit really starts to become destructive is when I get to the application category. I love productivity apps.

Several months ago, I read a random blog post asking why so many developers create ToDo apps. There is a simple answer — I buy all of them.

Just in the last few months, I've purchased FoldingText and Clear, changed up my workflow in an attempt to adopt each system just to see how I liked it.

But in the end, no matter the app, I always come back to my scorned lover, Omnifocus.

I've recently been spending a lot of time thinking about my addiction to workflow shake ups when I came across this post from www.bettermess.com:

I know, I know this sounds insane, but here goes the super gimmicky three steps I plan to help me better use my tools, increase my quality of life and improve my personal productivity:

Step 1. I’m going to take a good, long hard look at what I use and determine what’s working for me.

Step 2. I’m not going to change any of that.

Step 3. I’m going to take all that time that would be spent experimenting and use it to actually do stuff.

This post was the kick in the pants I needed to overhaul my anti-productive productivity habits.

But in order to move forward, I need to confess why I always fall off the wagon.

1. Even though I love Omnifocus and know it's always been the top performer for me, I continually get overwhelmed by it.

2. I have a nerdy desire to run all of my projects through a text only system like FoldingText, Task Paper or NValt.

3. Local apps are my preference, but I often need to collaborate with others on many different projects which doesn't jive with an app like Omnifocus.

4. I love note pads and having something that exists on paper resonates with me.

All of these things push me to scrap my perfectly efficient Omnifocus system and jump into something else.

In the coming weeks, I plan on going over each point and how I've been able to satisfy each urge while still maintaining a great system.

While the app boasted lots of digital bells and whistles, in the end it was very much a general interest newspaper that seemed to be geared toward people who didn’t really like newspapers. You can’t make that work no matter what kind of platform it uses.

It will be an interesting discussion on why The Daily folded — content, technology or market?

Fantastical: the intelligent iPhone calendar app we’ve been waiting for is hereTrey HeathFri, 30 Nov 2012 20:33:02 +0000http://www.theverge.com/2012/11/29/3703778/fantastical-for-iphone50062ec184ae8e8883dfffa3:50062ec284ae8e8883dfffb8:50b9180be4b0e7ebf067df97Fantastical for iPhone is the easiest to use calendar app on iPhone, and the fastest way to create events while you’re on the go.

The Empty PlaceTrey HeathFri, 30 Nov 2012 15:44:00 +0000http://jdbentley.com/the-empty-place/50062ec184ae8e8883dfffa3:50062ec284ae8e8883dfffb8:50b8d193e4b032fda7eb24a3 J.D. Bentley on comparing his design job to the work of his blue collar relatives:

I used to take pride in this separation. I used to feel like I was living in the future and they were living in the past. I used to feel like I was the better prepared to earn a living and to make something of myself. I used to feel my skillset was more relevant.

I know better now. I’m the weakest link in a line of hardworking laborers.

My great grandfather built naval ships in Baltimore during World War II. He farmed this very land for most of his life. My grandfather was a machinist and a mechanic. My dad a truck driver and delivery man. My brother worked at the sawmill, then in a local bodyshop.

And I never had a real job a day in my life. I sat around making websites like a pussy.

There are so many amazing things in this piece, but this really stood out to me. As a Southerner, most of my family has made a living working their ass off using skills our society no longer sees as important.

I relate to this in my own work as, no matter how successful I become, I will never have a "real job."

On GivingTrey HeathMon, 26 Nov 2012 19:50:07 +0000http://treyheath.com/blog/2012/11/26/on-giving50062ec184ae8e8883dfffa3:50062ec284ae8e8883dfffb8:50b3c2d6e4b05036d3b1b93eLast week, I wrote about fatherhood and the context and joy it has provided to my life.

With the holiday season now here, we will inevitably begin to think about things we are thankful for and causes worthy of our support.

Let me be of assistance in this regard.

Every day on the way to work, I get to pass by St. Jude Chilrden's Research Hospital. The hospital provides some of the best care in the world to kids suffering potentially terminal diagnoses.

St. Jude does all of this, including supporting the child's family while he or she is seeking care, for no out-of-pocket expenses. Nothing.

Although this is well documented, one thing that is not typically discussed is that St. Jude is far from undefeated.

Every year, parents will come to St. Jude with hope they can do the impossible and despite the best care in the world, they will fail leaving behind one of the greatest tragidies one can experience in this world.

]]>On Getting FiredTrey HeathWed, 21 Nov 2012 15:18:03 +0000http://byjohnbrandon.com/introduction50062ec184ae8e8883dfffa3:50062ec284ae8e8883dfffb8:50acef67e4b0b1fe7cd00de9Great post by John Brandon on how his journalism career evolved, devolved and evolved again into his current dream job.

Then I got fired. Again.

To this day, it all seems like a bad indie movie, the one where the puppy has to wear a cone around its head and two guys go driving off into the stark unknown.

When asked for advice by journalism students, I always say to know what to do after you get fired.

Friday was a busy day at the office, a short staffed kind of day. In the middle of that, my wife started to have chest pains. Several hours later, she was headed to emergency while I stayed at home with our four children. That night, our beloved dog Nacho never came home. Saturday morning, our son started throwing up. The proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back, you know?

And that’s the moment where the temptation to give in comes. As I rolled my eyes upward, the thought comes; “What now, Lord? What else have you got for me?”.

Especially with an infant, I often have days like this where I am consumed by the world and what I perceive to be overhwelming responsibilities.

With all the myriad of sub-cultures the Internet germinates, I can say that Christian geeks have the biggest positive impact on my life. Thanks for the insight.

I am sitting in a bar, having a conversation with friends, like any 21 year old.

And like most conversations involving such variables, the conversation shifts to the future.

There's the places we hope to visit. Europe is a must.

There's our career. God knows we have such plans for our careers, after all, this is pre-2008.

And then there's love followed by the possibility of children.

I remember clearly, the kid conversation. The argument, specifically whether or not to have children, was based on the soundest logic.

We had all of course interacted with a child, and while no one doubted how precious they all were, the argument to avoid having them seemed overwhelming.

Kids are expensive, require a vast amount of time and responsibility not to mention the need (best case scenario at least) to find a mate that you actually love.

Practically speaking, having a child and raising a baby didn't seem possible between work and a healthy social life. We could always just buy a dog.

The Olympics, Accents and Tears

It's August of 2012 and I am standing in an operating room clutching my Cannon Rebel XT, though I would never turn it on.

Through my surgical mask, I see my wife on an operating table, moaning softly. She's almost unconscious, but she manages to get out a few words.

An anesthesiologist with an almost disturbingly thick Eastern-European accent is standing over her saying, "You are ok."

Two surgeons and two nurses are working on my wife, talking about the Olympics and Michael Phelps while they work. There is a radio playing somewhere, but I can't really make out the music.

One of the surgeons turns to me and says, "We are about to pull the baby out now."

Out comes this tiny, limp and purple baby that is quickly handed to a nurse before being carried over to a far corner.

The surgeons continue their discussion on the Olympics, recounting details of a close finish. Despite their conversation, the is silence is overwhelming.

I quickly realize everyone is waiting for a cry, a scream or any kind of sign of life from the baby and I begin to panic. Despite a tremendous amount of anesthesia, my wife asks me if everything is ok. I reply, "Everything is just fine," but I am less than certain.

Silence.

Eventually, a scream erupts from the corner interrupting the track and field TV schedule debate. This sets of a myriad of activity by the nurses, who are taking tests and measuring things I don't understand.

Measurements are recorded. Readings are read. Tests are carried out.

The surgeons are working on my wife again while a woman in blue, cartoon covered scrubs turns around and hands me a tiny bundle.

"Here's your daughter," she says, smiling.

Wrapped in a white blanket, my daughter turns her head and opens her mouth, though she isn't crying. Then, ever so slightly, she opens her bright blue eyes.

It is a moment that I will never forget. For the first time in my life, I experienced tears of joy, and shed them generously.

The Eastern-European man then says, "If you need to sit down, there is chair."

Today

Today, I am picking up my daughter at daycare.

Her name is Mackenzie Ann Heath and she's three months old. She's starting to look a lot like me, and she often smiles when I touch her nose.

Her daycare teacher is scolding me about some procedure I am unaware of and I am ignoring her.

Mackenzie, or Mac as I call her, is laughing even though she just threw up all over her clothes.

Adjusting to the role of parent hasn't been easy. The first six weeks were a virtual bootcamp of responsibility that was more often that not completely overwhelming.

As it turns out, the expensive and time consuming arguments were completely accurate.

I still take her kicking and screaming to my wife in hopes she can devise some kind of remedy to make her calm down. Some times we just have to wait it out.

Also, I learned that all of the jokes people made about getting sleep before the baby was born were indeed true. There is nothing funny about any of them.

In such times of sleepless frustration, I often think back to that conversation at the bar.

There is no denying that parenthood isn't for everyone, but being on the outside of the experience, it's impossible to understand the significance of the experience.

It's impossible to compare the logic of being bound by the law and morality to be responsible for a living being to the emotion of holding a newborn infant in an operating room right before she opens her eyes.

There's a reason why perfectly intelligent and cultured individuals mass post pictures of their kids on the Internet and talk in ridiculous voices while making embarrassing noises in public in hopes of getting their child to smile.

Just a few months into the experience, fatherhood is everything I thought it would be eight years ago. It's exhausting, frustrating, expensive and intense. But it's also so much more than I ever could of imagined.

As things go, it's been the best weeks of my life and I highly recommend it.

]]>On what I'm doing on the InternetTrey HeathWed, 29 Aug 2012 14:00:00 +0000http://treyheath.com/blog/2012/8/29/on-what-im-doing-on-the-internet50062ec184ae8e8883dfffa3:50062ec284ae8e8883dfffb8:503d7ac3e4b04ba104468c0aI am really happy about where I am right now in my work.

I love my job, and I've surrounded myself with several awesome side projects.

At my job, I'll be doing some really exciting things for EDGE at growth-engine.org.

I will also be writing regular posts here, on my site.

Finally, I am co-hosting an economic development/entrepreneur podcast with my good friend Clay Banks at PodCatalyst.com, which is pretty much the coolest things I've been a part of as of late.